Enemies Foreign

I'm not strategist, but even I could see the "good" guys being herded into exactly where the killers wanted them.

There is an expression about story plots I heard on another show. I believe it was "hang a lantern on it". The point is when you have a weak plot point or an inconsistency, call attention to it and give an excuse even if it doesn't really answer the problem. Here in this episode they have a dry run of moving Eli and fail miserably. But the dry run had nothing to do with the approach they actually used. Regardless, when the crunch came, they reacted and walked right into the trap.

There is an emotional scene where Eli and Ziva finally talk, briefly.

One third into the season means that if the show-runners are doing their job properly, one can expect something significant. And the show-runners of NCIS know how to do their job properly. The plot practically goes onto untrodden territory while simultaneously putting focus on *multiple* long-running plot arcs that go as far as two and a half years back. Naturally, this also means numerous recurring characters appearing together, while still leaving room to introduce a new character - and what a character! To reveal more would constitute a spoiler.

When dealing with this kind of a significant episode there is always the danger of putting in too many ingredients, resulting in a mess, especially if the show is already on its 8th season. A decade earlier most shows didn't even make it this far, and if they did, tended to resort to gimmickry (musicals, live airings, returning ex-regulars, Special Guest Directors, you name it). Not this one. The thrilling plot is complex yet not convoluted (cough! - The X Files - cough!), there is both great action and meaningful character development, plus, most importantly, surprises. Any show that is able to surprise in its 8th season is a worthy show indeed. That said, while this one achieves greatness, greatness is still "only" 8/10. There has been, and no doubt, will be, even greater, truly *magnificent* episodes in this series.